And in case you're wondering - yes, Obe names him for the Monopoly property. Marvin Gardens is undoubtedly the most unusual animal you'll ever encounter in MG fiction.

Obe is a likable character, filled with righteous anger over the development of his family's land. (Examples - Chapter 1: 'There were mosquitoes.' Chapter 3:'There was a mess.' Chapter 9: 'There were questions.') Interspersed with Obe's short present-day chapters are even shorter chapters titled 'One Hundred Years Ago', where we learn more about Obe's ancestors and how the Devlin land was lost. I love the way each Obe-centered chapter begins. The writing is spare and the voice is spot-on. King (also known as Amy Sarig King) had finally written a novel for the middle grade reader. Why I recommend it: I've read every weird and amazing YA novel A.S. But to keep him safe from the developers and Tommy and his friends, Obe must make a decision that might change everything. The animal-Marvin Gardens-becomes Obe's best friend and biggest secret. No one has seen a creature like this before, because there's never been a creature like this before. And as he watches it, he realizes it eats plastic. One day, he sees a creature that looks kind of like a large dog. So Obe hangs out at the creek by his home, in the last wild patch left, picking up trash and looking for animal tracks. And he keeps getting nosebleeds, because of that thing he doesn't like to talk about. His best friend Tommy abandoned him for the development kids. His family's farmland has been taken over by developers. Synopsis (from Indiebound): Obe Devlin has problems. Levine Books, 256 pages, for ages 8 to 12) I don't think I'd want to watch this movie unless they gave it some Bill Nye spin and the tag line would have to be something along the lines of ' The Philosophy Guy' (patent pending, but not really).Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King (January 31, 2017, Arthur A. If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be? He'd almost blow out a little of his breathe every time he'd say what, or why during the introduction where both those words are frequently used. The narrator did a spectacular job but something a lot of people could probably look past but I couldn't was that he kept over-pronouncing(idk if this is a real word) the letter 'h' in 'wh' words. The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell is another recommended starting point for the subject of Philosophy by /r/philosophy, I haven't gotten around to giving it a read but I hope to soon.ĭid Norman Dietz do a good job differentiating all the characters? How? What other book might you compare Think to and why? I'm not sure this is the type of book that'd garner a second listen from most readers unless there was something you didn't quite understand, but that's just my opinion and I can't speak for anyone else. A Highly Recommended Starting Point for Philosophy

Think by Simon Blackburn